November 30, 2024

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A Samsung logo seen at the tech giant`s headquarters in Seoul (Bloomberg)

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that it has inked a deal to supply 5G network equipment to India’s telecom giant Bharti Airtel, its first 5G equipment deal made in the world’s second-largest telecom market.

On Wednesday, Airtel, India’s No. 2 telecom carrier and the No. 4 globally with 490 million subscribers, selected Samsung as one of its equipment partners ahead of its planned launch of 5G network services this month, according to the South Korean tech giant.

Under the deal, Samsung will supply radio units, including massive MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) radios, and offer optimization and maintenance services.

With this deal, Samsung now boasts close ties with India’s top two telecom companies. Samsung has supplied 4G network equipment for Reliance Jio, the market leader.

India is the world’s second-largest telecom market, where some 1.1 billion network subscribers use a whopping 15.3 billion gigabytes of mobile data per month. Samsung paved the way to expand its presence in the market as it participated in a 2016 project building the nation’s 4G network infrastructure.

“Samsung, which played a role in India’s transition from 2G to 4G, aims to further bolster ties for the upcoming 5G era,” said Jeon Kyoung-hoon, network business chief at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung has joined 5G commercialization projects in countries such as South Korea, the US, Japan, the UK and Canada. It plans to strengthen efforts to secure a firm footing in the global burgeoning 5G equipment market.

By Lee Ji-yoon  (jylee@heraldcorp.com)